Page 67 of Glimmer in the Darkness

She laid there a long time, her tummy still feeling yucky. Bugs crawled over her skin. Icky bugs, not her crickets. She felt them in her hair and on her back. But with her hands tied, she couldn’t swipe them or her tears away. They were probably gonna eat her up while she laid there. And then wouldn’t the man be sad. His sister dead because she got eaten by ants.

Two squirrels chased each other in the tree limbs above her head. Up and down, round and round the trunk, acting all silly and free. She wished she could play chase with them. She wished she were a squirrel and could run away. The man could never catch her if she were a squirrel.

Ella and her friends liked to race each other in her backyard sometimes. Everybody always wanted to play at Ella’s house because she had the best daddy. He didn’t sit inside and ignore them when they played like other parents did. No, he came outside and played with them. Once, when it was really hot and they were all sticky and sweaty, her daddy snuck outside and attacked them with a giant water gun, and all the kids laughed and giggled and begged to be shot next. And then he turned on the sprinkler, and they played until the backyard was a muddy mess. When Papa came over that night and scolded Daddy for ruining the yard, Daddy said, “My daughter is infinitely more valuable than grass, Pop.”

What was Daddy doing now? Was he missing her? Was he crying like she was crying? Or was the man right? Did Daddy not want her anymore?

No. Daddy loved her. He loved her, and he wanted her back. He was probably lost without her. Who was he eating Cheetos Puffs with? Who was he playing games with? Who was he kissing good-night now that she was gone?

Dear God, please. I wanna go home. I want my daddy.

The first squirrel hopped to another tree, and the second one followed, and they disappeared, leaving Ella alone with the bugs.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Cassidy’s head pounded, her stomach roiled. She could hardly walk straight, much less think straight.

She followed James, trusting he had some idea where they were going and making no effort to help guide them. It took all her energy to stay on her feet. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. What she needed more than anything was food. And water. And an Ibuprofen or four.

When she was sitting, when she could put together complete sentences, she’d tell James why he couldn’t call the police. Because their having been shot at didn’t prove anything. It certainly didn’t prove Cassidy wasn’t a killer. For all she knew, somebody’d shot at her because he recognized her as the girl wanted in connection with Ella’s kidnapping. Maybe the shooter wanted justice for Addison or Hallie. Maybe it was a crazy out-of-season hunter.

Being shot at didn’t prove she was innocent any more than being the victim of a mugging would make someone innocent of a bank robbery.

The police would probably consider her murder sweet justice. Meanwhile, they’d think they had their kidnapper, and Ella would still be in danger.

Assuming the girl was still alive. Except… there was something, something she was forgetting.

She trudged through the woods behind James, focusing on his feet to keep her on the path.

One thing was certain now, one thing she hadn’t been so certain of before. She didn’t want to die.

Nothing like having a bullet graze your head to remind you of the innate desire to live.

Father…

James had lifted logical prayers. All she could manage was a mantra of Father, help and please, please…

He heard her. He knew.

It was late afternoon, hours after they’d first climbed the cliff to the cave, when they stumbled out of the woods and onto a narrow paved road.

James turned to her. “You okay? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“Concentrating.” On not falling down. On putting one foot in front of the other.

“How’s the head?”

Pounding. Throbbing. “Fine.”

The slight narrowing of his eyes showed he wasn’t convinced.

But that didn’t matter. “You can’t call the police.”

“You need medical attention.”

“I need Neosporin and a bandage. And an aspirin.”

“Tylenol. Aspirin’s a blood thinner.”